Don't fly on an empty stomach

Don't fly on an empty stomach. It doesn't help to counter travel sickness - as people wrongly assume - but promotes it.

Instead, light food such as fruit, vegetables, salad, biscuits, cereal bars and rusk before and during a flight are recommended. Do without coffee, black tea, alcohol, nicotine and spicy, fatty food.

Take vitamin B1: it plays a major role in transmitting nerve impulses and helps travel sickness sufferers to alleviate problems with their sense of balance. These foods contain especially large amounts of vitamin B1: artichokes, fish, oatmeal, natural rice, asparagus, wheat products and pork.

Ginger helps against nausea problems in a gentle and natural way. So drink some ginger tea in good time before your departure. This will rid you of your sense of nausea by natural means and have absolutely no side-effects.

Choose the right seat

Ask for a seat on the center aisle near the wings. The aircraft's movements are least noticeable there.

If that's not possible, secure a window seat. If you fly during the daytime you can calm your nervous stomach by fixing your eyes on a point on the horizon, giving your sense of balance a reference point. That will ease your feeling of nausea.

Medications against travel sickness

As a preventive measure, you can take non-prescription medications, such as travel chewing gum, which diminish the side-effects of travel sickness such as tiredness and lack of concentration. There are also medications to suppress feelings of nausea, although due to their potential side-effects you must have a doctor's prescription for them.